Atlético Madrid announce Polish delivery firm InPost as new sponsor
Polish delivery giant InPost has taken the latest step in its international expansion by sealing a sponsorship deal with Atlético Madrid, one of Spain’s biggest football clubs. The agreement will see the firm’s famous parcel delivery lockers installed at the Metropolitano stadium in the Spanish capital.
“We are delighted to welcome InPost to the Atlético Madrid family and to be able to introduce our fans to the company’s groundbreaking non-home delivery,” said Oscar Mayo, the club’s general director of revenue and operations.
InPost is the official partner of Atlético de Madrid! Welcome to the rojiblancos family ❤️🤍
ℹ️ https://t.co/KYCuyPWuFP pic.twitter.com/vtvo4o4Cxf
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) August 13, 2024
InPost has been named as Atlético Madrid official logistics sponsor for the upcoming 2024-25 season, in which the club will be playing both in Spain’s top-flight La Liga and in the European Champions League, having qualified via finishing fourth in the Spanish league last season.
InPost’s CEO and founder Rafał Brzoska, one of Poland’s richest people, said that the firm was “proud” to link up with Atlético Madrid.
Both his firm and the Spanish club share “a hard-working attitude, being highly organised and taking an approach full of commitment and determination”, he added. “I believe that thanks to this alliance, millions of Spanish football fans will fall in love with InPost deliveries.”
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Since its founding in 2006, InPost has become a major force in Poland’s delivery market. In particular, it pioneered parcel delivery lockers – known as paczkomaty in Polish – that allow buyers and sellers to easily drop off and collect deliveries.
The lockers have become a ubiquitous sight around Poland, with the firm announcing earlier this year that it now has over 20,000 of the devices in the country. Almost 60% of Poland’s population live within a seven-minute walk of an InPost locker, rising to 85% in urban areas.
Other delivery firms, online retailers and even state energy giant Orlen have launched their own rival locker networks in Poland, though InPost has jealously protected the paczkomat name, which is widely used in Poland to refer to all parcel lockers.
Delivery firm InPost has sparked controversy by requesting that the name for its parcel lockers not be subject to the usual grammatical case endings in Polish
It holds the trademark for the word „paczkomat” but many argue the term has entered common usage https://t.co/ifANsxA7me
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 14, 2023
In recent years, the firm has sought to expand internationally. In June, it announced that it now has 7,000 lockers in the UK and 2,000 in Italy. Both figures were up 40% on a year earlier.
In December last year, it launched a partnership with English top-flight side Newcastle United, including a delivery locker outside St James’ Park stadium decorated in the club’s famous black and white stripes.
InPost has been present in Spain since 2021, when it took over French delivery firm Mondial Relay, which had operations in France, Spain and Portugal. It then began a process of rebranding operations in those countries under the InPost name, and now has over 10,000 delivery points in the Iberian Peninsula.
The firm has also been a major sponsor of sport, including deals with the Polish men’s national football team, the Polish Cycling Federation and (through Mundial Relay) the Tour de France.
A fresh kit. An easy way to collect it ⚽️
Just select InPost at checkout, choose your favourite InPost Locker and pick up your new kit. 🏆 There are even InPost Lockers at St. James’ Park!
You’ll be ready for the new season just like Bruno, Tino and Lewis are! 🖤🤍 #NUFC pic.twitter.com/FX1h5wbEOY
— InPost UK (@InPostUK) August 7, 2024
Main image credit: InPost press materials
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
